Got my first telescope last weekend, a Bintel 8" dob recommended to me, and took it out last night for a first look (being the first clear night here since I got it!). I'm not sure what I was looking at or for, but given the amount of light pollution I was quite impressed with it. After about an hour of star-hopping I chanced upon a big bright yellow object, which blew me away.
I thought it may have been Mercury at first, but after consulting my almanac determined it was probably too early to be Mercury, and not in the right position to be Mars, so perhaps it was Saturn? I believe it was in the south sky. I didn't make out rings, but it sure was glowing! This was with the 15mm eyepiece. When I switched to the 9mm, I must have moved the scope because I lost it and couldn't find it again, doh!
Anyhoo... I need to find a darker place to view from.
Welcome to IIS, Congrates on the 8". I not sure but if you were looking south then it prob. wasn't saturn. I'm only a beginner myself so I could be totally wrong, but I think the planets are to the north. Download Stellarium from http://www.stellarium.org/ if you havn't already. This is a great help when triing to ID thinks up above.
I think you must have found the star Canopus.
You would certainly have been able to make out the rings of Saturn with the gear you have.
Congratulations on first light.
May I suggest buying the latest copy of Australian Sky and Telescope. It has a beaut all sky map in the centre that will get you started finding some of the brighter objects up there at the moment.
Thanks, I will check out Stellarium and the latest AS&T!
Canopus, really? It is yellow like that? Well that is indeed cool!
I have the 2012 Astronomy almanac which has been quite useful thus far, tho I'm still learning how to read the charts etc!
I tried using Google Sky Map on my android phone, but it didn't seem to work properly, like where I was pointing it was showing the moon and there was definitely no moon there!
Yes, it's really yellow. And more amazing is when it gets down close to the horizon, it flashes blue, red, green and yellow, due to atmospheric aberration.
Canopus and Venus, are the two objects most commonly reported as UFO's.
Saturn is really easy to find at the moment. Wait until about 10pm, then look roughly north. You should see two stars one above the other, the lower one is slightly yellowish and slightly brighter than the higher one.
The higher up one is Spica (Alpha Viginis) and the lower one is Saturn.
Try with your lowest power eyepiece first, then try to get closer with the others.
I looked for it last night, I think I was looking at the right stars, one above the other, but for some reason I couldn't get more than a small pinpoint of light for them. Which raised a question as to whether my scope needs to be setup properly or something (maybe re-collimated?). Like for example, if I look without the scope I see the usual pinpoints of light, then when I look through the scope I see pinpoints of light. Hmmm... I haven't seen anything like the big bright orange thing I saw a few days ago (which I don't think was Canopus btw, having looked at the sky maps, Canopus is quite low in the s-se sky, right, whereas this orange thing was more south and high up, possibly Rigel?). I'm not sure if this is a collimation issue or something else, any advice would be appreciated.
Is it possible to see Saturn's rings with an 8" dob?
I posted recently asking about a brilliant object that seemed just below Scorpius, maybe 20deg up from the horizon in the same area you speak of, maybe near the Pavo Constellation at 9pm Darwin time.
It was difficult for me to be certain because the canopy (pun intended) of the trees were blocking my view. It was not yellow however but bright white and flashing blue and red. I was checking it out with my bino's.
It was suggested that it may have been Antares but I think it seemed much lower than the ecliptic path.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Ben.
Last edited by BENHINSPETER; 22-05-2012 at 06:50 AM.
Rigel is in the constellation Orion. Orion for us is a summer constellation, so Rigel isn't visible to us right now.
From what you write, with a strong orange colour, I'd suggest the star in question is Antares.
There is a very easy tool to use if you are interested. It will give you a quick and easy guide to identifying objects in the sky and navigating your way through it. A Planisphere is a mini star atlas that can be manipulated to find your way around the sky for any time of the year.
My first sky chart was a planisphere, and I've been using one for over 20 years to help plan my observing sessions in advance.
You can use a planisphere to identify the area an object you've found, and then using a more detailed star atlas you can pin point the exact nature of the object if it wasn't noted on the planisphere.
The one Bintel sells is quite good. But you can also make your own. Just do a search on Planisphere and you will find plenty of DIY options. This one from the Museum of Victoria is a good one to start with.
You can also use various computer star atlases too. Stellarium is one of the most popular, and it is FREE to download. Even mobile apps are exteremly powerful today, where you can just point the phone to the part of the sky in question and the app identifyies that section and gives you deep sky objects of interest nearby.
Choice is yours. My own preference is paper charts out in the field, but others are happy with their iphone.
I looked for it last night, I think I was looking at the right stars, one above the other, but for some reason I couldn't get more than a small pinpoint of light for them. Which raised a question as to whether my scope needs to be setup properly or something (maybe re-collimated?). Like for example, if I look without the scope I see the usual pinpoints of light, then when I look through the scope I see pinpoints of light. Hmmm... I haven't seen anything like the big bright orange thing I saw a few days ago (which I don't think was Canopus btw, having looked at the sky maps, Canopus is quite low in the s-se sky, right, whereas this orange thing was more south and high up, possibly Rigel?). I'm not sure if this is a collimation issue or something else, any advice would be appreciated.
Is it possible to see Saturn's rings with an 8" dob?
Thanks
A
Hi Anthony,
Have you aligned your finder to your main scope? A finder is indispensable in making sure you are pointed correctly, mainly because there are so many stars up there and its easy to think you have the right one in your FOV.
Point your main scope with a 25mm EP to a bright star that doesn't have too many bright ones around it. if its bright and stands out when you look with just your eyes, it'll really stand out through the scope, almost like a bright moon.
once Centred, look through your finder and adjust the cross hairs till its centred. once that's done, you don't need to adjust your finders.
Then if you're looking for say saturn, roughly point your scope to the area, center on it with the finder and then look through the main scope.
As others have said, use a longer focal length EP like a 25mm to start.
The finder's wide FOV helps you hone in on your target quite easily, although dimmer objects aren't that visible. But Globular clusters like Omega Cent, and 47Tuc are easily visible through a finder. Even bright galaxies like M83 are visible.
Other option is to use the printed setting circle on your scope.
if you are unsure, you can always use stellarium or a planisphere to identify what you're looking at.
oh, and a right angle finder is sooo much better on your neck!!
Have fun.
The one Bintel sells is quite good. But you can also make your own. Just do a search on Planisphere and you will find plenty of DIY options. This one from the Museum of Victoria is a good one to start with.
Hi Alexander,
I printed out this planisphere, but don't understand what Dial B is for. Can you pls explain?
Thanks
Alistair
Thanks for all your suggestions! As it happens my IIS planisphere arrived last night.
I need to properly align the finder, tho I'm not sure exactly how to do it. The thumbscrews seem to be at strange angles, and the manual talks about tightening one and loosening the other, but the difference seems microscopic. I will have to check this out on the weekend... (hopefully this doesn't come across too much of "stoopid newb" )
I also agree that I don't think it is Canopus. Could it have been Alpha Centauri? I saw pics of it as orange and this thing was blazing orange (the pics I've seen of Canopus have been bright white mostly, I couldn't find any pics of orange versions). Also Alpha Centauri looks to be in the vicinity I saw the object (to the left of Crux in the south sky).
I am yet to see anything as big and blazing as that first sighting!
The best time to align your finder is during daylight hours. Look for some distant landmark, like distant phone antennae, towers, buildings, what ever as long as it is a long way distant - being Earth-based you won't have problems of Earth's rotation. Point your scope to that target and using your lowest magnification (longest focal length eyepiece) locate the target in the eyepiece.
Your finder scope is then just a matter of patiently tweeking those thumbscrews a bit a time to set the crosshairs to sit on the centre of the target in your eyepiece. You can now also increase the magnification through your telescope to get a more accurate centering of the crosshairs.
Those thumbscrews ARE supposed to move only small amounts at a time. Otherwise fine corrections of the finder would be very difficult. Take your time. That is another reason why this is best done for the first time during the day, without the distraction or frustration of wanting to start viewing the stars.
Alpha Centauri is not a red star. The only blazing red star in that part of the sky is Antares. Alpha Centauri however is an interesting telescopic object as in a telescope it can be seen to be two stars very close to eachother. Alpha Centauri is actually a tertiary star system (a three star system, with a binary being two stars), with the third component called Proxima Centauri. Proxima is a very faint star and is actually the closest member of this system to us.
Yes, get that finderscope up and going to assist in finding objects in the night sky.
Here is an images from Stellarium lookin to the North - As Malcolm said - look for 2 brightest stars in the NE/overhead, depending on what time you look.
Mars is also visible as a 'reddish star', but is moving away from Earth so is getting smaller. Still, its easily recognised in the constellation of Leo.
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I didn't make out rings, but it sure was glowing! This was with the 15mm eyepiece. When I switched to the 9mm, I must have moved the scope because I lost it and couldn't find it again, doh! 
This Canopus you speak of...
As it happens my IIS planisphere arrived last night. 
)
